There have been some questionable contract signings in the NFL in recent years. The thought of an iffy contract immediately conjures up images of Deshaun Watson and Daniel Jones for some. In the last two years, however, you would be hard-pressed to find a messier situation than the one that the Atlanta Falcons managed to create in 2024.
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Kirk Cousins’ four-year, $180-million deal stands as both a testament to his agent and as an indictment of the Falcons’ front office. He began his Falcons tenure in 2024, displaying some potential, though he was inconsistent. His first season in Atlanta featured a record-setting 509-yard passing game.
Cousins started in 14 games. And while he began the season with a 6-3 record, injuries led to a decline in form, and he finished the year 7-7. In 2025, he had a 5-3 record in the eight games he started, throwing for 1,721 yards, 10 TDs, and 5 INTs with a 47.6 QBR. The inconsistency and injury concerns have ensured the deal gets worse for the franchise with each passing day, according to Cam Newton.
“I love nothing more than a player getting his coin,” Newton prefaced during the latest episode of his 4th & 1 podcast. “But when you get the coin, you gotta perform. Sometimes, these folks done forgot to perform and say ‘I’m straight, I’m good.'”
In the eyes of Newton, the dollar amount tied to Atlanta’s deal with Cousins is certainly enough to have it be considered one of, if not the, worst deals in NFL history. To make it worse, it was signed just weeks before they selected Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
“At the time, some people said, ‘Oh, Cam, you’re just mad because that ain’t you.’ Of course I’m mad,” continued Newton.
“For $180 million? Who doesn’t want that? They didn’t even have to spend half of that. Man, you could have gotten a refurbished Cam Newton, a refurbished Michael Jones, a refurbished Julio Jones, for half that price,” he added.
Unfortunately, for the Falcons, what’s done is done. And all that Atlanta can do now is try its best to navigate the heaps of chaos that their now-former general manager, Terry Fontenot, left behind. According to Newton, however, the franchise does seem to have gotten a jump start on cleaning up the mess after hiring Matt Ryan.
“I commend them for saying, ‘Hey, let’s go get a former player in Matt Ryan. Because now, if you’ve got a former player, you know certain things. You become an expert in this space because of the time spent in this specific trade,” said Newton.
For better or worse, the Falcons are two years through their four-year nightmare. And while they have yet to receive any type of return on their investment in Cousins, who has started in just 16 games throughout the past two seasons, they are now at least that much closer to finding a sense of both competence and cap space.
